Igo Kyuu
At a young age, Igo Kyuu was discovered by a wandering monk whio took him the sanctuary of the Windfist Monks, where he received training. After climbing to the top of the holy Alzah’va Tower, which was prohibited by the elders, he was forced to leave the order, but not before he returned at the behest of a voice carried on the wind. Igo was able to take what the voice asked for, a tome that would teach the young monk the meaning of freedom. Kyuu fled the monastary before he could be caught, and his travels eventually led him to Heimili, where a mishap led him to stand before the Deva Council, where he was invited to join the new order called The Vigilum. Young Life Born to a shepherd and seamstress in the Northern Fuza province, Igo was discovered by a wondering monk who called himself Calesh, or “Feather” in Auran. Calesh passed through Fuza two days after a band of thugs known as the Sizaki Tribe ravaged the region; in their wake Calesh came across piles of ash and bone, the bodies of maidens hanging naked from low hanging boughs, and empty buildings lacking even in ghosts. While passing through Calesh happened upon a young Igo, only six at the time, hiding in a bare storehouse eating seeds from the cracks between the floorboards. Surprised at what he found Calesh offered to take the boy to safekeeping, and led him across the Hagar Mountains to the sanctuary of the Windfist Monks: Omalla Temple. Though Calesh refused to enter the temple himself he sent Igo forward, and gave him a letter to deliver to the first monk he saw. As fate would have it the first monk to lay eyes on Igo was a boy only two years his superior named Dugan- who would later go on to become great friends and fierce rivals with Igo. Dugan snatched up the letter from Igo and passed it along the council of elders who, after only a few moments, called the boy in for inspection. At this time the council was headed by the sage Tsujon who immediately took a liking to Igo, commenting on his “obvious grace” and “natural destiny”; Tsujon granted Igo both admission to Omalla, and the great honor of learning directly under his tutelage. After a few years of adapting to the discipline of the monastery Igo developed a penchant for private meditation, often in dangerous and difficult to get to locations; the trait became one of Igo’s best known characteristics among the Omalla brethren. On one such occasion during his sixteenth year Igo climbed to the top of the temple’s highest tower, the holy Alzah’va (or “God’s Breath” in Auran) Tower, despite being forbidden from the ascent without supervision from an elder monk; after spending four hours listening to the Sky whisper in his ear, Igo had a vision of himself as a child being led by a man to the monastery. “''Calesh''” said the Sky, and Igo dropped out of his focused trance to discover himself standing at the edge of the tower overlooking a fall of some five thousand feet, and as reality came rushing back to Igo’s mind he could feel the warmth of a hand pushing upon his back. Igo plummeted as the world around him turned to streaks of light, and the Sky’s whisper raged into furious screaming in his ears. Fortunately for Igo it was not his destiny to die that day- his master Tsujon had just finished leading a ritual devotion (as it happened to be a holy day: the Day of Final Breath) when he caught a glance of a tear falling from the Alzah’va Tower. Curious of the sign Tsujon immediately leapt off the ground, manipulating a tunnel of air from his body to the “tear’s” to create a vacuum through which Igo was pulled. The experience of free-fall left Igo breathless (considered the weakest, most pathetic condition among the Omalla disciples) before his master. Tsujon looked down on Igo with horror; his most prized pupil had not only broken a rule of the temple, but he had done so on a holy day, nearly dying dishonorably in the process, and appearing in a manner of breathlessness before a master of breath. The event so rattled the sage that even he lost his control for a moment- a fulgurant light ripped from Tsujon’s mouth as he uttered a word of primal pain that rippled through his pupil’s body. When Igo came to several days had passed. Tsujon was sitting at his bedside, waiting with an apology in each cheek; first, Tsujon explained that he deeply regretted having to punish Igo as he was “such a talented, good-natured boy”… second, Tsujon explained that Igo’s punishment for entering the Alzah’va Tower was determined by Temple law to be uncontested exile. Despite the pain still echoing throughout his body Igo sprang up to appeal, but Tsujon turned away releasing a barely audible “''Sorry''”. The next morning Igo was escorted to his quarters to gather whatever possessions necessary, and then to the front gate. Before reaching the Temple threshold Dugan’s familiar voice came pouring through the hall, but Igo did not face him… he couldn’t bear more than a momentary pause before his gait picked back up , “''Don’t stop''” thought Igo, “''leave a strong impression. Breathe.”'' As Igo crossed the bridge connecting the temple to the craggy Hagar terrain he could hear his friend scream out to him, but this only propelled the boy’s movement- he was one of the fastest monks in the temple, faster even than Dugan… after running for a few minutes Igo realized there was no sound behind him anymore. For the first time in ten years he was alone- not alone as he had been during his private meditation where friends were still waiting for his return at supper, truly alone. Not knowing what to do or where to go, Igo dragged his worn body to the nearest peak and fell into his meditation trance. It didn’t take long before the world fell away and he was once again in a world of his thoughts, floating freely from idea to idea like some lazy cloud wandering over a field. The habit calmed Igo, and brought him to a centered position, but when he awoke he found that the entire day had passed and it was now night... though to Igo only minutes seemed to have passed. As he got up to stretch his legs Igo noticed that there was someone sitting up on a rock behind where he had just been meditating- at first he was curious, thinking it might have been a monk from the temple come to tell him that he had been forgiven… but it wasn’t anyone he had recognized, and the figure didn’t seem to wear clothes like any he had seen before. When Igo spoke out to ask the man who he was, the figure blew away into moving shadows- like leaves caught in a whirlwind; at the same time Igo felt the same presence of a hand on his back, this time higher up on his shoulder- and the warmth of a whisper in his ear “''Ayava al ieeh. Ju quo Voloug. Khukhu thon?”'' “''I am the Wind, the Breath of the World. Who are you?'' Igo announced, “I am your faithful student. Please, free me from the chains of this grounded life” “''In time Young One. First a test of your devotion… you must return to the temple from whence you just departed and perform a task for me”'' Overcome with conflicting emotion, Igo professed his embarrassment “I have been exiled for breaking law on the Day of Final Exhale” At this there was a crack of lightning the split the sky, and thunder that roared across the Hagar range. All the while the sound of laughter boomed around Igo. “''Go to the temple and return to the tower where you first felt my presence; I shall grant you the power to see things for what they really are… and there you shall find me”'' Another crash of thunder sounded and the voice ceased. Igo turned around and there was no one standing behind him. He was alone again. It didn’t take long for Igo to start walking back along the same path he had just followed that morning, though by the position of the moon he knew he had to have been past midnight now. As a student he had often provided service to the temple by filling sentry shifts at night, as it gave him time to be alone with his thoughts; the service served him well, as he recalled the unguarded routes and exploited security measures that outsiders could never have known. When finally he stood before the path to the Alzah’va Igo paused. This was it. This decision would transcend any service he had ever performed for the temple- if he was discovered breaking exile and returning to the forbidden tower he might not only earn his master’s disdain… he could earn the full extent of his master’s fury. No… not his master. Igo had a new master now, he answered only to the Wind. Climbing up Alzah’va Igo noticed that the interior looked vastly different; whatever effect the figure had meant to have on him it was no small change… there were what seemed to be spirits that all stared at him as he passed, lines that caressed the sides of the walls occasionally forming themselves into Auran words (often in clusters of words that Igo had heard at Tsujon’s devotions to the Sky), and floating lights of every color moving in a range of different speeds… the scene was dizzying. Igo finally reached the top of the tower and saw the shadowy figure standing before him, with chains of light wrapped around his body all connecting to a book that Igo had not noticed during his first visit… but almost exactly where he had sat down to meditate the last time he had come here. “''Vul’zah kooh. Sheykhlo tamar”'' “Your God is pleased. Take this book” Igo took a step forward, and feeling the cold air rush around him he reached his hand to touch the book and felt a surge of warmth enter through his arm, up into his head. Euphoria overtook him and he dropped back into the trance-like state that had been his home on so many occasions. Here he could see through the figure’s hazy cloak of shadows, but it did little good. There was no man to be seen, nor woman… this was the Wind after all, and inconstant form of change was ill suited by the demands of a defined and fleshy body. The figure’s face was like a sea of possibilities, and the shape of the figure’s body changed like an object viewed through a bent mirror. There was one definite quality though. At this moment Igo could see all of the mouths of the Wind were smiling. “You’ve done well. I am your Master now. Take this tome and I shall teach you the meaning of freedom” Another crash of thunder brought Igo back into the real world, now with a tangible book waiting in his hands. Descending the tower he no longer saw the lights, or spirits. Not stopping to wonder why, Igo hurried along and snuck back out of the temple to begin his new life on the path to enlightenment. In The Vigilum Coming soon. Appearance Coming soon. Personality Coming soon. Category:Player Characters